Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendi And Brian Ramirez
Hi Wendi and Brian, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I apprenticed for tattooing in southern Florida entering the 90’s at Irezumi Ink after I tattooed out of my house because it wasn’t easy in those days to get started. My supportive father was my very first tattoo client. Brian and I met and relocated to Southern California after we married in 1997. Brian continued his career with Union Pacific Railroad while I tattooed in various local shops in both LA County and Orange County. A couple of those key shops were Inflictions Tattoo, HB Tattoo, and All American. During these years, I gave birth to our son, Angel. We moved to Austin ,Texas in 2006. For a short few months, I worked on dirty 6th at Golden Apple Tattoo. I teamed up with a local piercer and another tattoo artist to open Shaman Modifications , but within a year, Brian and I broke away to open our own shop, the original Dovetail Tattoo in Austin’s Art District,which is referred to as Dovetail Tattoo West today. By 2017, we had outgrown our small space so we opened an additional shop on the east side, Dovetail Tattoo East. After being my business partner and handyman after all these years, Brian has finally undergone an apprenticeship and is beginning a new chapter as a tattoo artist himself doing Traditional Americana under the direction of our long-standing artists, Chris Bishop, Kira Bishop, and Thom Rein. For the last 10 years, I also maintain a home in northeast Tn. where my father still lives following the death of my mother. I travel there on a monthly basis and tattoo.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We started our business as a necessity due to our situation without any savings. We made this happen by auctioning off a handwritten letter by the astronaut on The Challenger,Sharon Christa McAuliffe, selling a vehicle,and being gifted money from a good friend opposed to taking out a business loan.
Once we moved past the beginning factors of owning our own business, it has always been about surviving in a rapidly growing city when tattoo shops can be a revolving door for multiple artists who can be a positive asset or a very negative hardship. Considering this, we have been blessed with more positive than negative.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I don’t feel that I have any specific style. It’s really varied throughout the years. I enjoy both color and black and gray. I lean towards larger compositions with varying weight lines and a lot of textures. I prefer to draw directly on the body. Typically something organic and whimsy that I have some freedom in. I still enjoy doing portrait work yet,I’m certainly not a hyper realist by any means. I also like to paint with acrylics and oil as well as building life-size anthropomorphic pieces. As for Brian, he’s only been tattooing for a short time, so he doesn’t specialize in anything, yet. He exclusively does American traditional and strives to do it well. What he’s most proud of is the music he creates, however he’ll soon be proud of his tattoo work as well. What sets him apart is his age and the fact that he served a two year apprenticeship in his 50s while also being co-owner of the shops. He didn’t pull rank with any of the artists while he served his apprenticeship, and quite honestly had to deal with more than any of our previous apprentices. We both continue to learn from the younger generation as well as the old.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Risk taking is necessary to move forward. We’ve continuously took leaps and grasped for a better situation. Nothing is gonna wait for you. When an opportunity arises, we must evaluate how it affects those closest to us and if it will set us closer to our end goal. You will lose one thing but gain another. It’s the story of life. You can’t avoid taking a risk.
Contact Info:
- Website: dovetailtattoo.com and Vaydramusic.com
- Instagram: @wendiramireztattoo,@classicbriantattoos,@dovetailtattoo
